Adrian Fedkiw
The pieces are starting to come together, even if it didn’t show on the scoreboard.
Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor were in the starting lineup for the first time and No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons made his debut on the Philadelphia 76ers bench as a spectator.
We’re getting there.
Embiid had a rough night, however, scoring just nine points to go with six rebounds and five assists in the Sixers’ 123-114 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
Here are some of the highlights:
Embiid not only twisted his left ankle before the game, he also took a hard shot to his nose by teammate Ersan Ilyasova. It just wasn’t his night and admitted postgame that he wasn’t proud of his effort.
“I was just standing, I wasn’t moving, I was just standing on the perimeter. I wasn’t active on defense.”
Okafor, meanwhile, netted 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Sixers, who were gunning for their third straight win, but instead dropped their 14th straight to the Raptors.
Robert Covington led to Sixers with 26 points to go with 12 boards, while Sergio Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson added 16 points apiece.
DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 31 points and Villanova graduate Kyle Lowry registered 20 points and seven assists for Toronto.